A Kano State High Court has postponed the hearing of preliminary objections in the high-profile corruption case involving Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and seven others. The court has rescheduled the hearing for February 13, 2025.
The defendants, including Ganduje's wife, Hafsat Umar, and several companies such as Lamash Properties Limited and Safari Textiles Limited, face charges of bribery, misappropriation, and division of public funds amounting to billions of naira. The charges were filed by the Kano State government, highlighting significant allegations of financial misconduct.
During the proceedings on Wednesday, counsel for Ganduje, his wife, and Umar, M.N. Duru, SAN, representing Offiong Offiong, SAN, requested the court to strike out their application to withdraw a previous request for facilities and witness statements dated October 21. "My lord, we urge the court to strike out this application. We intend to proceed with a new application dated November 18 instead," Duru stated.
However, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, counsel to the applicant, opposed the withdrawal, arguing that the application should be dismissed rather than struck out. "We have filed our counter-affidavit dated November 15, 2024. We also filed two additional counter-affidavits and responses dated October 18 and October 21," Adedipe explained.
Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu overruled the objection from the applicant and struck out Ganduje’s application, setting the next hearing date for February 13, 2025. This decision underscores the complexities involved in handling corruption cases within Nigeria's legal system, often leading to procedural delays.
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